As a leading proponent for diversity and inclusion in the construction industry, the National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC) has made advocating for continued improvements to the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program a key legislative initiative in 2016. The organization asserts that there is still significant ground to cover to achieve full inclusion in the $400 billion per year transportation bill funded by taxpayer dollars.
The NAMC Board of Directors has made its legislative agenda available to clarify the organization’s objectives. We are committed to being on the forefront of addressing the lack of full access for minorities in the transportation industry relating to employment and contracting opportunities. While strides are being made, we are nowhere close to where we need to be.
Through the NAMC STEM Outreach Program, the association seeks to help equip minority youth with the knowledge and skills to solve tough problems, gather and evaluate evidence, and correctly comprehend results. The NAMC Construction Labor Job Readiness Boot Camp pilot program, to be held at the Westside Works Facility in Atlanta, Georgia in 2017, will prepare disadvantaged workers seeking to enter the construction industry for entry level employment.
CALL TO ACTION
As business owners and citizens, we must be involved with our local representatives, such as mayors and city council members, as well as our state and congressional representatives, to ensure that the needs of our communities are included in the appropriations to rebuild America’s infrastructure. NAMC urges you to ask government representatives how rebuilding is going to work for and benefit small business, local communities, and mandatory DBE participation requirements.
Please understand — this is your money. Every time you go to the gas station, you help fund the transportation bill. We all pay the 18 cent federal gas tax, so all of us should have the right to equal services.
Respectfully,
Wendell Stemley, CMAA
NAMC National President
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Founded in Oakland, California in 1969 by Raymond Dones and Joseph Debro, NAMC is the oldest minority construction trade association in the United States with over 50 Hall of Fame members and Legacy Builders and an annual project capacity of over one billion dollars nationally. Through a network of local chapters, and in collaboration with strategic and corporate partnerships, NAMC assists minority and women-owned member businesses with building capacity by providing access to opportunity, advocacy, and contractor development training.
